Benghazi, 20 August:
A small bomb hit the vehicle of an Egyptian diplomat in Benghazi today, Monday, in the latest sign of unrest in the eastern city.
The diplomat, First Secretary Abdelhamid Rifai, was reported to have been at home at the time.
Nobody was hurt in the blast.
Maged Al-Urfi, a Benghazi internal security spokesman, said the device contained only a small quantity of explosives, not enough to injure passangers.
“This is meant to send a message, not hurt”, he said, refusing to give further details.
The vehicle was parked outside of the Egyptian consulate in Fwyhat, one of Benghazi’s wealthier districts, home to a number of foreign diplomats.
In recent months Benghazi has been hit by a number of attacks on foreign diplomats, including attacks on the Tunisian consulate, the American consulate and a vehicle carrying the British Ambassador.
The city has also been plagued by a spate of assassinations directed at high-profile former Qaddafi officers, with 14 having been killed so far this year.
It is not known who is behind the latest incident or what their motivations were.